Jawaid & Angela Ahmed
In addition, the property looked sharp inside and out, and the 4-page brochure was very skillfully done, highlighting the best features. One of the questions we asked was what time of the year was best for selling a home. We were expecting to hear her say that late spring or early summer would be the best time for selling.
In selling your property, the single-most critical decision is to find a realtor who is competent, experienced, professional, and knows all aspects of the business.
In early 2012, we had made a decision to sell our home in Maplewood, MN, and move to a warmer state. First hurdle we faced was to find the right realtor. We started going to open houses and talking to the realtors in a 5-mile radius. This gave us a chance to see how the realtor presented the house and himself/herself, what kind of promotional material they used, how well they had the property prepped for showing, and
what depth of experience they displayed.
After a few weeks of ”open housing”, we met Lyn when she was showing a house in the Woodbury/South Maplewood area. We stayed there well over an hour and it was apparent
that our search for the right realtor was to conclude successfully with Lyn. This lady is a walking encyclopedia of real estate business and knows it in and out from all possible aspects.
But her answer surprised us. She said that right after Christmas and New Year holidays was the best time to sell.
In the summer of 2013, we started work to get the house ready for selling. We met with Lyn who went through the house and the yard very carefully. During this meeting and a subsequent follow-up meeting, she covered all aspects of what needed to be done. First, she went through what needed to be done inside to de-clutter the home and show it off very well. Then she went through the yard and talked about the work needed to make the yard look sharp. We decided to put the house on the market in the middle of January, 2014. Lyn made a schedule of the pre-sale milestones and activities needed to be finished.
We got busy. We had the yards prepped per Lyn’s recommendations. When the work was completed, Lyn came out around mid-August and took the pictures showing the outside. She returned in November to take pictures again showing the changing colors of the landscape. In the meanwhile, we continue de-cluttering inside the house. Accumulated junk was donated. A lot of furniture that we did not want to move was sold or given away. Finally, in mid-December we had another meeting where Lyn reviewed the progress inside. She brought in an interior designer, Gerri, and together they took a critical look and came up with more recommendations to make the interior look sharp and spacious. In the following week, Gerri made several trips bringing in rugs, art work, and other accessories to give the house a very finished and sophisticated look. In parallel, the inspections and other necessities were being scheduled. The place was finished in the first week of January. Lyn came back with her camera, took pictures inside and outside. She went home and worked on the promotional materials. She came back for some more pictures to show certain items more clearly.
On January 16, 2014, with near-record snowfall that winter and tons of snow piled on each side of driveway, the house went on the market. Some folks had expressed concern about the wisdom of selling a house in the middle of a deep freeze. But on the very first day, we received two full offers. On the second day, during the very first open house, a third offer was received which exceeded the asking price. The house looked sharp but it was Lyn’s presentation style and the ability to resonate with potential buyers which made the difference.
There is an abundance of real estate professionals. Finding a competent realtor is critical. For us, finding Lyn was great luck and blessing. She exceeded our expectations of competence, knowledge, professionalism, marketing savvy, photographic skills, landscape expertise, interior design acumen, and plain old people skills. She was a lot of fun to work with. We learned a lot from her. And, most important, she produced awesome results.